I had the occasion last weekend to speak with the man who gave me my first job out of college. I'd graduated a semester early, in December, and had returned to live with my parents in my hometown of Monte Vista.
I was born there, grew up there and graduated high school there. I hadn't given much thought, though, to whether I would live there. I assumed I'd find a job somewhere else and my sojourn at home would be just that --; temporary. How hard could it be for an English major to find a job?
Ultimately, within a few months of my return to Monte Vista, I landed a job as a graphic artist (my minor) in Colorado Springs, and I never returned to the Valley to live again.
But I'm ahead of myself here.
I'm not quite sure how I landed the job wrapping Christmas packages at Rominger's Hardware. Because Monte Vista is such a small town, Mr. Rominger may have heard that I was coming home. Or perhaps my father knew that Rominger's was looking for young ladies to wrap gifts during the holiday season. In any case, it all fell into place about the time I got home.
If you would like a trip down memory lane, consider the goods that Mr. Rominger sold in his store. Hardware, of course. Garden hoses, seeds, sprinklers, stakes. Light bulbs, cords, plugs. Cookware and accessories, some of which ended up under my family's Christmas tree. In the center was a large flat wooden counter with huge rolls of red and green, blue and white, silver and gold wrapping paper, which I learned to wield like a pro. My friends, my family --; and young men I recalled that I wanted to get to know again --; were our frequent customers.
All this came rushing back as a friend called me over to chat with Mr. and Mrs. Rominger. Although I wouldn't have known them without that reintroduction --; it's been 40-some years --; and they wouldn't have recognized me, our reunion was warm and friendly. When I told Mr. Rominger that he had provided that first-job-out-of-college opportunity, we all laughed.
Then he said something that gave me pause, and I reflected on his words during my drive home. "I remember a time," he said, "when the store needed you young ladies to handle all that gift wrapping."
Like much of what's currently in the news, Mr. Rominger's store had become less relevant, whether because of larger chain stores, online purchasing or a stagnating economy that takes an especially hard toll on rural America.
My question now: Is small-town America also irrelevant, or is it becoming so? I hope not.
I know much has changed in Monte Vista. The grand old trees in the park are gone. The hospital where I was born is gone. Rominger's Hardware is gone, but when I left to start my job in Colorado Springs, the store was thriving.
As I watch even retail giants struggling today, I remember, with Mr. Rominger, a time when customers crowded around my gift-wrapping table. I'm forever grateful to him for that first job, and for the nostalgia about home I still carry with me.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/Small-town-memories-loom-large,213170?branding=15
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